German Tort Law

... while we'll keep ours on the law for you The German-British sport law experts of Graf & Partners specialise in drafting and negotiating sports related agreements, sponsoring and endorsement deals, sports related litigation and sports event agreements. We consult sports federations, professional sports clubs, major event sponsors and individual professional athletes from many different sports, including football (soccer), ice hockey, golf, baseball, motor sports and winter sports. Since, nowadays, sports law is essentially business…

As a full service German and English law firm, established in 2003, and the editors of the expert blog on German civil procedure rules we are often asked to provide English Law Firms with an expert report based on issues of German Law. Bernhard Schmeilzl, a bilingual Lawyer who qualified in 2001 (admitted to the Munich Bar) and is able to provide expert reports to be used in English litigation and arbitration cases based on…

Can a disabled injured person claim for the predicted cost of accommodation or only the actual costs after they have been incurred? Under German law, a person who is impaired by an accident is entitled to adequate housing. The extent and amount necessary for adequate housing depends on what an impaired person would reasonably require. This can be determined by an expert, who will be appointed by a German court. However, a difficult and strongly…

Is the Standard of Proof any different under German Law than English Law? The standard of proof in German civil litigation is defined in section 286 German Civil Procedure Rules (Zivilprozessordnung): Section 286: Evaluation of evidence at the court’s discretion and conviction (1) The court is to decide, at its discretion and conviction, and taking account of the entire content of the hearings and the results obtained by evidence being taken, if any, whether an allegation…

Under English law of torts, a claimant is entitled to pursue a claim for injuries that have been sustained as a result of the negligence, even if their response to the damage they suffered was unusual or not predictable (e.g. due to brittle bone disease, haemophilia or a nervous disease of the injured person). This principle is known as the “egg shell skull” rule and means that the wrongdoer takes the claimant in the position they…

Tort claims based on animal attacks in Germany Animals are unpredictable. Even well-tempered dogs can snap out of the blue. Under German law, the owner (more precisely the keeper, but in most cases owner and keeper are the same person) is legally responsible and financially liable for any damage his/her dog causes (see Section 833 German Civil Code), even if the keeper has done nothing wrong and the animal has never before attacked someone. Therefore,…